Seasonal spectacle: Johnston plays host to first RI Scarecrow Festival

Local businesses, crafters, families, and others from across the community helped make the weekend’s first-ever Rhode Island Scarecrow Festival a great success.

Johnston War Memorial Park was a sea of scarecrows Saturday afternoon for the event, which was held to benefit the Dysautonomia Support Network (DNS). The non-profit provides resources and assistance to those battling dysautonomia and related conditions.

“We’re thrilled with the turnout,” said Amanda Aikulola, a licensed nurse practitioner and executive director of DNS.

Saturday’s festival featured a Wizard of Oz Fun Run, live actors and actresses, raffles, celebrity scarecrows, and prizes like the one Aikulola presented to the students in Roberta Herchen’s fourth-grade class from Winsor Hill Elementary School for their unique Mr. Cran-Man creation.

“We were excited to win this prize,” said Herchen, who has been a teacher at Winsor Hill for 29 years. “We want to get all the schools in Johnston to participate in this festival next year.”

Rayna Caino – a special education teacher who has been in Johnston schools for three decades – played a significant role in the creation of the Cran-Man.

Ciano, Herchen explained, went to a cranberry bog in Massachusetts and brought the Ocean Spray cranberry bog lesson into the classroom. Then Herchen, Caino, and special education teacher Natalie Verardo connected that lesson with the Scarecrow Contest in Johnston.

“It was good to see the cooperation and excitement from the students while they made their scarecrow and named him,” Herchen said. “They absolutely loved learning about the history and creating a cranberry bog, and that’s why they wanted to name their entry the Cran-Man.”